MOBILE, Ala. –Barrett Trotter, notebook in hand, squinted into the sun at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, looking intently at the quarterbacks throwing the ball on the field. Two years after he threw his last pass as an Auburn quarterback, Trotter was doing football in a different way.

Trotter is a scouting and operations assistant for the St. Louis Rams. He was in Mobile to help check out the prospects in the Senior Bowl.

After coming off the bench to have a career game and lead Auburn 45-24 victory over Virginia in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl, Trotter decided to pass up his fifth year of eligibility. But he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. He was a graduate assistant at Arkansas last spring when the call came from St. Louis.

“When I got done, I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Trotter said. “I’ve enjoyed this ride. I’m glad to still be around football, watch it, go to games and watch film. That’s as fun as can be.”

Trotter’s focus is on quarterbacks wide receivers. He cross-checks them on film and live, which is what brought to the Senior Bowl.

“It’s different than learning and playing, because you’re not trying to beat an opponent,” Trotter said. “You are trying to grade guys subjectively. It’s a lot different not looking at scheme as much but looking at the players and what they can do.”

Trotter knew Rams’ coach Jeff Fisher, the father of Auburn safety Trent Fisher, from his Auburn days. In 2011, Fisher was not coaching and attended every Auburn game.

“He’d kind of helped me in the draft process a little bit, how to train,” Trotter said. “I had called him and asked advice on some things, and he’d kind of pointed me in the right direction.”

Trotter, who played for Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn when Malzahn was offensive coordinator, watched from afar as Auburn rebounded from a 3-9 record in 2012 to advance to the BCS National Championship Game. He was at Jordan-Hare Stadium when Ricardo Louis snatched a batted pass and took it home for the winning touchdown. He watched on television as Chris Davis returned a missed field goal 109 yards to beat Alabama.

“They had a heck of a year, so it was fun to watch,” Trotter said. “I think even Coach Malzahn would say it surprised him a little bit. The moment I knew they were going to be all right was in the LSU game when they fought back and even made it close. That was when I knew they were going to be a good team.”

Phillip Marshall is a Senior Writer for AuburnTigers.com. Follow Marshall on Twitter: